25 H VW Fun Cup : Bollen-Caprasse-Caprasse-Mondron avec... 1'' d'avance!

C'est véritablement au sprint que s'est jouée la victoire aux 25 Heures VW Fun Cup. Songez que sur la ligne d'arrivée, l'écart entre les vainqueurs - Bollen-Caprasse-Caprasse-Mondron (Allure 2) - et leurs dauphins - Ferte-Illiano-Gervoson (SPI) - n'est que de 1''279 ! Une grosse seconde au terme de deux tours d'horloge avec extra-times, difficile de faire mieux. On ne manquera pas en tout cas d'adresser les félicitations d'usage au quator victorieux, quatre "gamins" qui ont parfaitement géré leur course et soutenu la pression, notamment en toute fin de course quand leurs rivaux revenaient au grand galop. Le team avait en effet décidé de prendre le risque d'effectuer un ravitaillement en moins et c'est Guillaume Mondron qui devait assurer le dernier relais :  "Comme il y avait eu un safety-car et la pluie, nous avons décidé de tenter le tout pour le tout en n’effectuant pas le dernier ravitaillement prévu ", soufflait Guillaume. " J’ai vraiment roulé à l’économie en gérant l’écart que l’on me donnait par radio. Je n’étais pas sûr d’arriver au bout. Mais quelle victoire ! "

Très beau joueur, Alain Ferté et ses amis saluaient la prestation de leurs rivaux. " Leur stratégie a payé et on ne peut que les féliciter ", souriait l’expérimenté pilote français. " De notre côté, nous pensions avoir perdu toute chance de victoire à cause d’un contact durant la nuit nous ayant coûté presque deux tours. Nous sommes donc très heureux de notre course et, surtout, nous nous sommes beaucoup amusés, ce qui était le premier but pour nous. "

Ces deux équipages ont continuellement occupé les avant-postes avec deux autres... qu'on retrouve comme par hasard aux 3es et 4es places, Donniacuo-Bouvy-Piron-Dupont (Allure Kottage) et Crosset-Gressens-Fumal-Verbist (Colson Racing for Michel Simul) qui terminent également dans le même tour que les vainqueurs. On notera que les derniers nommés ont effectué une remontée époustouflante après avoir perdu trois tours en début de course dans un accrochage.

La 5e place revient à Van Impe-Bentchikou-Dupassage-Lalmand-Leenders (ash-PVI +4 tours) devant Debrus-Radet-Baudart-Charlier (Côté Passion +5 tours), Nava-Delrez-Chouvel-Chouvel (Acome racing with LVR +6 tours), Danneels-Gilot-Danbeels-De Roeck (RPM Racing +11 tours), Beighton-Noyce-Beighton-Bryant-Bryant (Team Tiger) impressionnants vainqueurs en Evo 1, De Fierlant-Schmetz-Grivegnée-Demortier-Verdonck (Racing Club Partners) et Jaspers-Nulens-Galand-Bouche-Janssens (Jac Motors by MTE +12 tours).

Zorza-Cappelli-Sordini-Ragginger (8KS Corse) sont 22es du classement final et l'emportent en Evo 2 tandis que Vercammen-Lémeret-Coppieters-El Azhari-Vaxelaire (CarPass LRE by DRT), 33es, triomphent en biplaces dans une édition marquée par une météo changeante qui n'a pas vraiment facilité la tâche des participants. (photo J. Letihon)via TURBOMAGAZINE

AUTO FABRICA TYPE 4

If you follow the Bike Shed at all you’ll know that we’re big fans of Auto Fabrica. Bujar & Gaz are young guns with an engineering background, blending style with substance on builds that make CGI renders look untidy. They tweak familiar components and reposition chassis parts by a few mm to get the angle right here, and the lines right there. Boring parts are re-built, re-shaped and re-finished. They seem to live in a world where practical building skills meet purist design. …And so the story continues with the Type 4.

This bike is Auto Fabrica’s second stab an at SR250 so they had to move the game on one more notch. Bujar tells us the rest, on behalf of himself and co-conspirator, Gaz:

“The idea for this build was to really focus on an evolution from the previous sr250, the Type 3, this meant that we didn’t want to use the standard parts but create a new design aesthetic with one-off items. As an evolution it meant that we wanted to increase power from the engine and raise the levels of craftsmanship. SR250′s are such a simple and light bike that it reminds us of the fixed gear bicycles that we ride. So, ‘light, fun and fast’ was the brief.”

“In the concept and design stage of the build we were  focusing on keeping a lightweight feel to the whole bike. The main objective, as our previous builds, is to try to and achieve a complicatedly simple design language on every aspect of bike. We really wanted to achieve a small, fat-tyred, street-machine that could be chucked around the streets of London or hit some-off road turf on occasion”

“We liked the idea of creating a unique tank for this build as we had a few ideas circulating on what style and image we wanted to go for, it had to be a simple shape with enough tension in it’s lines to not look too old school. The knee indents on the tank were originally intended to be much bigger but when this was mocked up with styling tape it was evident that it detracted from the cleanliness we wanted, they were added but at a smaller scale. The knee indents helped lift the tank’s weight off and meant you can grip the tank better with your knees when going around the corner.”

“Another feature we decided to add is a bead in the aluminum which faded out smoothly into the rest of the top surface. This was the first product we hand beaten and finished using a FJ Edwards English wheel, previously unused in a barn in Essex, where it had been used to make aircraft parts, and now in our hands, helping us build motorcycles.”

“The tank dictated what the seat and it’s size should be as we also didn’t want a super skinny uncomfortable looking seat. Naturally following the frame and using the same stitch pattern we have used on all of our builds so far, the finishing was left down to black suede fabric with an orange triangle graphic to finalize the colour palette. The triangle detail is an AF trademark, we add this on all of our builds as it adds an interest to the seat which sometimes can be overly complicated. It also adds a nice addition of a accent colour.”

“The suspension has been upgraded with new OEM forks and aftermarket rear shocks. This helped us achieve a decent side profile line and have a nice curved flowing line from headlight to the kick section of the seat.”

“The stainless steel pipe is starting to become a signature touch in our builds, we really wanted the pipe to be a bit different to using 90 degree pre cut sections, this meant the pipe had to have double curvature in order to clear sections of the frame and engine yet give the intended design. The pipe was finished off with another small addition we keep using which is the 3 pie cut sections right at the tip of the pipe to add a bit of interest and direct exhaust gas which ever direction required.”

“The Grips are our usual touch of using saddle leather accompanied with a double cross hand stitched pattern, the switch gear consists of two stainless buttons on the left and a integrated starter kill switch on the Domino throttle assembly.”

“The wheels had to be upgraded from the original, this included a full stainless spoke re lace with a TLS up front and 18″ DID rims front and back.”

“The type 4 is another step in which we see ourselves going, producing truly unique parts and pushing a design language which reflects the craftsmanship and good design ethos. We are continuously working on sketches and Alias modelling to generate new and exciting ideas which will reflect in our future builds, we have learned a great deal on this build which has set us up to really push it on the following high ends builds we have in the pipeline”

Yes again Bujar & Gaz tick all our boxes here at the Bike Shed, with a properly designed and executed build, showing class and put together using solid engineering. See more of their bikes on the Auto Fabrica pages on the Bike Shed, or follow them on their Webpages and Facebook or contact them by email.

via The Bike Shed

The Aston Martin DB2/4 is fit for a king

Aimed squarely at the elite, the Aston Martin DB2/4 of the early 1950s carried over the best qualities of its predecessor, yet added the practicality to appeal to discerning, family-minded gentlemen. Perhaps that’s why it was fit for a king – quite literally…

As the second model to wear the company saviour’s initials, Aston Martin launched the DB2/4 to an ever-receptive audience at the 1953 Earls Court Motor Show. Inheriting the GT qualities of its two-seat DB2 forebear – including its W.O. Bentley-designed straight-six – the new car would allow two more (albeit rather small) people to enjoy its long-distance touring capabilities, thanks to a supplementary row of ‘occasional’ seats. These could be folded down to create a gargantuan luggage capacity, access to which was through one of the earliest known applications of the hatchback. This was a most welcome move away from the ‘letterbox’ aperture of its predecessor, and it now meant even the most demanding luggage requirements of a couple on tour could be addressed.

The choice of royals and racers alike

It was perhaps these better-rounded GT capabilities that attracted royal ownership. The kings of both Belgium and Jordan were known to keep DB2/4s on their personal fleets – as was the Duke of Kent, cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. Further ownership endorsements came from racing driver Peter Collins, land-speed legend Donald Campbell and, albeit more predictably, David Brown himself.

The example pictured here is an early-1954 car, the recipient of a recent body-off restoration and mechanical update. It’s currently for sale via official Aston Martin Heritage specialist Nicholas Mee & Company in West London; you can view the original advert in the Classic Driver Market.

Photos: Nicholas Mee & Company

You can find hundreds more classic Aston Martins for sale elsewhere on Classic Driver.

A lap of Le Mans – in a Martini-Porsche 911 Carrera RSR

Classic Driver certainly got lucky this time. We were offered a spin on the track before the start of the Le Mans Classic... with Le Mans winner Jürgen Barth at the wheel of the Porsche 911 Carrera RSR that won the 1973 Targa Florio…

While Porsche’s long-anticipated return to the Le Mans 24 Hours in June wasn’t quite the hoped-for success, the marque’s presence at this year’s Le Mans Classic reminded us of the unrivalled number of victories that Porsche has enjoyed here over the years. The Classic saw huge numbers of privately owned Porsches in action, from 356 and 911 right through to 917 and 935, representing the entire spectrum of Zuffenhausen’s finest. Even Porsche itself had brought several legends from the museum to Le Mans – and Classic Driver was thrilled to be offered a passenger ride round the circuit in the 330HP Martini Porsche 911 Carrera RSR in which Herbert Müller and Gijs van Lennep won the 1973 Targa Florio.

Race legend at the wheel

At the wheel was none other than Jürgen Barth, the legendary Porsche racer who – together with Jacky Ickx and Hurley Haywood – won the 1977 Le Mans 24 Hours. Barth was at the Le Mans Classic to race a 1967 Porsche 907: on Friday, in qualifying, it suffered a puncture at over 250km/h. "Lucky", was the driver’s dry comment about the outcome of that little occurrence. We feel quite relieved that our lap of Le Mans in the Martini Porsche is very definitely a paradelap. And the driver is clearly well within the limits of safety, sliding casually through the Dunlop chicane and, on one occasion, steering with his knee while he takes pictures of the other Martini cars with his smartphone. On the Mulsanne Straight, we were stunned by the thought of the speeds that were reached in the 1970s, before the chicanes were added. There is a fabulous onboard video from 1977, in which Jürgen Barth’s Porsche 936 seems almost to be flying past the villages on the Hunaudières.

That 'backside' feeling

We ask Barth what has changed since his victory at Le Mans. "The high-tech racing cars of today make the need to ‘drive with your backside’ – a level of sensation that was required in those days – redundant. If a rev-counter failed, we still had to sense the precise moment at which a gearchange was needed, or two laps later we’d find ourselves in the pitlane with engine failure." He threads our car elegantly through the Porsche Curves and, too soon, we’re at the end of our lap. Too bad: we were just getting into the groove of this high-speed interview technique.